


Long Forgotten Fairytale

by cyprianlatewood



Series: 69 Love Songs Vol 4 [1]
Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Blow Jobs, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Not Beta Read, POV Quentin Coldwater, Porn With Plot, Songfic, Tropes, magnetic fields song, there's plot i swear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-18 18:13:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28996518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyprianlatewood/pseuds/cyprianlatewood
Summary: A short and angsty but ultimately sweet reunion fic (Penny 23 didn't listen to Penny 40, thank God) inspired by this fantastic Magnetic Fields song (also the fic title):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNehrGHip00Song lyrics in italics.
Relationships: Quentin Coldwater/Eliot Waugh
Series: 69 Love Songs Vol 4 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2162388
Comments: 6
Kudos: 53





	Long Forgotten Fairytale

**Author's Note:**

> I'm super nervous about posting this - I've been a fanfic reader for 15 years (!) but never posted before. I am working on a longer fix-it fic but then this song got stuck in my head and I realized it set a pretty perfect scene for these two idiots. Feedback is welcome. Feeling okay about this now but I may chicken out and take down or revise, so happy to hear comments for improving the work. This fandom has been so so helpful for me this past year and I'm happy I can finally put something back, as small as it may be.

_Someone told me you'd be here  
Whispering these familiar things  
Talking to my little pet, smoking the same old cigarettes  
...I would have laughed_

_I saw you last in summertime  
You said you hated long goodbyes  
You said, "There's nothing to explain, in every life a little rain"?  
...etcetera_

Quentin was telling anyone who asked (and mostly people who didn’t) that he didn’t want to be here. He hated parties, in fact. The only reason he was even participating at all was because he lived here, in the Penthouse, and there was no way he would get any peace and quiet in his room while this rager was going on (thanks Kady), so he may as well get drunk in public instead, and also Julia forced him. He smiled derisively as he was reminded of that time he and Julia crashed Bacchus’ party until he remembered that it was basically his fault Bacchus was dead and then he felt even worse. Fuck this, he needed another drink.

He wandered over to the kitchen area, dodging hedges he had never met who seemed super excited to tell him all about their theories on all the crazy power surges. He must have been digging around in the fridge for a while, because when he turned around, beer in hand, his eyes were immediately drawn through the glass door on the other side of the common area, where above the crowd, a mop of unruly curls that had definitely not been there before was suddenly blocking the skyline. The tall figure on the patio tilted his head back to take a drag, exposing the sharp, graceful line of his throat, and blew out a smoke Pegasus that galloped off out of view. Then he dropped his head to continue conversing with someone obviously much shorter than he was. From this distance, the man appeared to be completely at ease and enjoying himself.

Quentin, on the other hand, had forgotten to breathe for several seconds. Then his body jumpstarted and he doubled over in a wheezing fit, nearly dropping his beer in the process.

“You okay, Q?” asked Julia, coming up behind him and resting her small hand between his shoulder blades. He looked up into her concerned face, watching her expression gradually transform into nervous guilt as he looked at her in growing anger.

“Did you know?” He gritted out. She bit her lip. “Did you know that Eliot would be here?”

“Not really. They just came out of the clock earlier today. There wasn’t time to tell you. I didn’t think it would be a big deal.” Her face clearly indicated she knew it was a big deal.

“Not a big deal? Julia.” He opened his mouth to continue berating her, but then he had a thought and the anger was replaced by dread. “Is something wrong in Fillory? Is he okay?”

“Yeah - I mean, something's always wrong in Fillory. But it sounds like it’s not urgent. They are going to stay here for a bit and regroup, I guess. Figured we could use their help with the whole surge thing, anyway.”

“They?”

“Yeah - Margo, Eliot, Fen and Josh.”

As Quentin and Julia were talking, Eliot turned to put out his cigarette and opened the sliding door. And then he looked up, and locked eyes (was it intentional? it had to be intentional) with Quentin. And of course, Quentin immediately had a heart attack. The blood rushed in his ears, and his stomach dropped. Julia should probably call an ambulance, he thought weakly as Eliot’s face did something complicated before settling on a brilliant smile. Or maybe just portal them to the infirmary at Brakebills. A person should not have so many adrenaline spikes in a short period of time without getting some urgent care from a professional. Eliot was leaning lightly on a cane as he walked, but his stomach wound seemed to be mostly healed. Even with the elegant limp, he was the epitome of a tall glass of water.

Quentin was suddenly keenly aware of how he, in contrast, had not showered in at least 3 days, and was wearing something that barely qualified as “not pajamas.” But Eliot was still approaching anyway, not looking disgusted - looking, in fact, like he was genuinely happy to see him. Margo must have stayed out on the deck, and Quentin realized with sharp pinch of betrayal that Julia had made herself scarce while he was trying not to pass out. He blinked, and then Eliot was right there, in front of him.

_I guess you've had your little joke  
But I have lost my sense of humor  
My medication's wearing off, for it's just not strong enough  
...to cover this._

_Then you kissed me like before  
I found myself wanting more  
And you tell that little lie that kept me hypnotized  
...another kiss_

“Wondered if I’d see you here, Q.” Eliot's deep voice was soft, tentative.

Words were a thing. Maybe. Quentin opened his mouth a couple times before something finally came out. “Uhh, yeah, I mean where else would I be? It’s my apartment.” He huffed a little, to convey his reticence at being forced to party. Eliot laughed, a bright, sparkling thing.

“Oh I don’t know – maybe you would be stubbornly hiding in your room, trying to read.” Then his smile seemed to dip a little. “Or, maybe staying over with Alice?”

“Why would I be staying with Alice?” Quentin blurted out sharply. Oh, his voice was working again, great. Just not his tact.

“Because she’s your girlfriend, Q,” Eliot said gently, as though trying to calm a startled animal.

“What? No. No, she’s not.”

Now Eliot seemed to be lost for words. He fumbled with the head of his cane for a minute – why did that cane look so familiar – and then he perched gingerly on one of the stools, only wincing a little as he shifted his weight. Quentin set his beer on the counter and leaned against a stool as well, turning a little to face him, but not all the way, so then they were sort of awkwardly looking out towards the party instead of each other.

Eliot cleared his throat. “But I thought – Margo said you got back together. I have to admit I was pretty doped up at the time, but I feel like I wouldn’t have mixed that up. She told me about the timeshare spell. Said you were inseparable after.”

“Oh, right. Well, if you had actually stuck around long enough to talk with me after you woke up, you would know that it was _definitely_ a mistake, one we realized pretty much immediately after we got back from the Seam. That I was a fucking wreck, and barely even knew what I was doing. That I thought I would probably die at the Seam, that maybe I even wanted to die there, and she couldn’t forgive me for that, even if it didn’t pan out that way. She’s not even here anymore – she’s in the Neitherlands with Zelda, running the New Library.” The anger was back again now. God, Eliot could be such an ostrich sometimes.

“Well shit, Q. I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”

“Well if you didn’t want to bring back bad memories, maybe you shouldn’t have come to this party tonight. You were just gone, and I didn’t know why. And now it sounds like I do know why, and it’s just more of the same shit you always pull,” Quentin snapped, and stalked away to his room, fuming. Honestly, fuck Eliot. Fuck him and his biphobic bullshit. He practically ran into his room and slammed the door. And immediately started hyperventilating. He sank to the carpet with his back against the door and tried to calm down.

Finally, just as he was getting a hold of himself, he heard a tentative knock. “Q? Can you open the door? I really am sorry,” came Eliot’s pleading voice, muffled through the door. Quentin sighed and stood up, willing his heart to slow down for once in this insane night.

Alas, it was not meant to be. Because when he opened the door, and saw the look on Eliot’s face, contrite and devastated but with maybe a little ridiculous spark of hope, and, and _desire_ , he immediately lost all reason and calm. His knees threatened to buckle, so he reached out blindly for balance and just whispered in a broken voice, “ _El._ ” And then Eliot leaned forward to steady him, bringing the hand holding the cane to his hip and another up to gently brush the side of Quentin’s jaw, and he was leaning down, eyes asking permission, and Quentin hoped to God that his eyes were giving it, and then he closed the gap and they were kissing. There it was - there was the fire, and Quentin was combusting all over again – he was pretty certain that by the end of the night he was going to need a defibrillator.

_If somebody told me I'd succumb  
If someone said I'd be so dumb  
After all the sleepless nights, when I turned on all the lights  
...I would have hit them_

_But I have turned the other cheek  
My voice trembles, my knees are weak_

_And you beat me once again  
And I know what happens then  
...you raise the ante_

For whole minutes, they didn’t even move from the doorway. The din from down the hall had faded into a low throb, and nothing else existed anyway, so it hardly mattered that anyone in the hallway would have seen them. Their bodies had gravitated towards each other until they were just barely touching, a field of electricity sparking between them. Eliot’s tongue was doing illegal things in Quentin's mouth and somehow he felt it on his dick. Was this some kind of spell? Quentin finally came to his senses, and pulled back, gasping. Eliot was looking at him with eyes almost completely black, flushed cheeks, tightly gripping his waist and neck as though he thought Quentin might run away. Quentin thought maybe he wanted to. What the hell was even happening here? Eliot looked like he was going to dive back in when Quentin gritted out, “El, stop.”

Eliot took an immediate step back, fear and shame flickering on his face. The hand that had been around Quentin’s neck flopped down at his side, shaking a little. Were those tears starting to form in his beautiful, kohl-lined eyes? _Oh no._ Quentin scrambled. “No, I mean, not _stop_ , just, wait. I – I just don’t understand. I thought you - _talk to me_ , El. Please.” El seemed to calm down a bit, and his eyes jumped to the bed, so Quentin took him by the elbow and maneuvered them to the bed.

They sat down in that same sort of awkward side-by-side way they always did when feelings were too hard, but then Quentin changed his mind. He turned, tucking one leg up under his knee, and faced Eliot directly. Eliot looked completely paralyzed, sitting there hunched over, staring down at his hands gripping the silver ram’s head on the cane. He looked so vulnerable like this, and suddenly all Quentin wanted was to comfort him. He put his hand on Eliot’s leg, and the light touch seemed to shake loose a sob from deep in Eliot’s chest.

“God, Q, I’m sorry. I’m fucking it all up again, and I wanted to do this all so differently. I had so much time, in the Monster’s mind prison, to think over all my regrets. I spent a lot of time thinking about one of them - that time, under the archway. When we remembered that beautiful life, and you said those beautiful things to me, and I just burned it all down like it was nothing. I wanted to be braver, Q. I really did. When I broke out to talk to you, I really thought I could do it -“

“I thought you _were_ doing it, El. I thought you were telling me you wanted me. That’s why it broke my heart when you woke up and then you just – left. Then I thought, maybe I had just been reading too much into it, maybe it was just a way to make sure I knew it was you.”

“No, Q.” Eliot turned to him, eyes blazing. “I did mean it. I love you. I’m so in love with you it hurts, all the time. When I woke up and Margo told me you got back with Alice, I saw all my brave plans go up in smoke, and I just couldn’t face you. I’m sorry, I should have tried harder. I should have been a better friend, at least. I wish I could fix this.”

Quentin’s heart melted. “There’s nothing to fix, El.” Of course, Eliot took that the complete wrong way, and just crumpled into himself. “Fuck, fuck! That’s not what I meant, come on.” He pulled Eliot into his arms, awkwardly trying to wrap himself around the other man. He rubbed his hand soothingly down his back. “I meant, nothing’s broken. Okay? We are okay, we’re always okay. And now, now – we’re more than okay, because you want me, and I want you. I love you, El. I loved you then, and I still love you now. Okay?”

Eliot looked up, his shining eyes inches away. “How can you still love me after all this? I ran away. Twice. I made you live with a Monster for months. I saw you tonight for the first time in weeks and just jumped you with hardly a hello. I’m a mess, Q. Margo can barely stand me these days. If it weren’t for the Dark King and all that timey-wimey bullshit in Fillory, she probably wouldn’t even be speaking to me right now.”

“Dark King? Timey-wimey bullshit? You know what, we’re gonna table that for now. Right now I just want to kiss the man I love again.”

Eliot’s eyes went soft. “As you wish, darling.” Quentin rolled his eyes but his heart was still struggling to function properly. He gently laid Eliot back onto his bed and positioned himself on top and just hovered for a moment, to look at him. Then he couldn’t take it anymore and let himself fall into Eliot’s arms, and they both moaned at the contact, their lips connecting again. They took their time at first, but there was the matter of clothes – Quentin sat up and had his shirt off in a second, but then had to watch, heat rising in his groin, as Eliot unbuttoned his dark-colored waistcoat and shirt slowly, first because his hands were shaking, but then as he realized the effect he was having on Quentin and his confidence was coming back, because he was being a colossal tease.

“You know, if you take any longer, I’m just going to spell those off, and then you’ll be furious,” Quentin huffed.

“Patience, darling. Daddy’s injured.”

“I’ll show you injured.”

Finally, they were touching chests skin to skin, and it felt like touching exposed wires. “Need to feel you, El,” Quentin whined, and Eliot’s hands were everywhere, setting small fires all over his skin. They reached to his waistband and Quentin shivered in spite of the heat. He sat up again and tried to maneuver out of his pants. Naturally, he got tangled up in them and had to roll off to the side for a moment.

Eliot started laughing. “Now who needs a spell?” Quentin slapped him in the thigh to shut him up and was rewarded with a sharp gasp of arousal. He got his pants off quickly after that, and his boxers too. He rolled back over onto Eliot’s lap and moaned when his aching cock made contact with the soft wool of Eliot’s trousers. He ground down into Eliot’s covered cock for a moment before backing off and slowly unzipping his trousers. He pulled down the pants and silk underwear, eyes not leaving Eliot’s as he folded them carefully as he could and looking around for a place to put them before Eliot just reached over, grabbed the pile and threw it to the side. “Brat,” Eliot laughed and pulled him back down.

Quentin kissed his way down Eliot’s chest, as Eliot’s long hands cupped the back of his head, grasping as well as he could the short strands of hair. He skirted Eliot’s scar, figuring that was not going to be a sexy conversation, and made his way down the soft downy skin of his thigh. He breathed in the musk of Eliot’s groin and quickly got to work on his cock. Eliot groaned. “Fuck Q, that feels amazing.” Quentin just hummed in agreement, his mouth too full to respond, which made Eliot’s cock twitch and grow in his mouth. He continued to bob up and down, using his tongue and his hand to full effect, not really feeling any reason to tease. It didn’t take long before Eliot was warning him, “Gonna come, Q,” and then he was spilling into Quentin’s throat. His hand fell limply from his hair as Q pulled off, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and came up for a kiss.

They rolled over until they were on their sides facing each other and Eliot’s top hand was grasping Quentin’s dick and Quentin was arching into it, so turned on from the blow job that it only took a few strokes and he was coming all over El’s hand and stomach. They both just stared at each other in awe, breathing hard, as they calmed down. Then they kissed languidly for a while until Q felt like he was barely awake. Eliot did a quick cleaning spell and made like he was going to get up but Q just grabbed him tighter and whispered, “Don’t go. Please.”

With a fond sigh, Eliot shushed him. “Q, darling. I’m just going to pee. I’m not leaving.”

Quentin sat up suddenly. “But what about Fillory? What about the timey-wimey thing?”

Eliot ruffled his hair. “We can discuss Fillory in the morning, Q. I promise. But whatever we do now, we do together, okay? I’m not going to run away anymore, not if I can help it.”

Quentin nodded, eyes drooping. “Okay, good. Fix Fillory together. Sounds great. I’m just gonna, lie down then.” Eliot smiled as he got up and went to use the bathroom, thankfully adjoined to the bedroom so he didn't need to get dressed. When he came back, Quentin was already asleep. Eliot watched him with watery eyes for a moment before tucking himself back into bed and pulling Quentin towards him until he was nestled up on his chest. Eliot briefly gave a thought to his fellow time-travelers out in the common area. Well, no matter, Margo would surely have guessed where he ended up, and they could take care of themselves for a night. Whatever bullshit the Dark King was up to, he wasn’t afraid. They would all face it together, this time with Quentin at his side. He kissed him gently on the forehead and drifted off to the best sleep he had since he woke up and thought he had lost his only chance to be brave.

_And a long-forgotten fairytale is in your eyes again  
And I'm caught inside a dream world where the colors are too intense  
...and nothing is making sense_

_There's a floating town of ire down in a mist of mystery_  
_There's an old enchanted castle and the princess there is me  
...decked-out like a Christmas tree_


End file.
